


Costumes and “Coincidences”

by SoDoRoses (FairyChess)



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Jewish Deceit | Janus Sanders, Jewish Logic | Logan Sanders, Kid Dark Sides, M/M, Mutual Pining, The children conspire, its just cute, parent-trap-esque shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28385241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyChess/pseuds/SoDoRoses
Summary: The grown-ups pine and the children scheme.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Dark Creativity | Remus & Deceit | Janus & Thomas Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Familial DRLAMPT
Comments: 19
Kudos: 163





	Costumes and “Coincidences”

**Author's Note:**

> my secsan for riley (@backatthebein on tumblr) !!! I hope you like it!!!
> 
> thank you to @trivia-goddess for beta-reading this schmoopy schmoopy fluff alksjdakj

“Okay, Robins, are we ready to go?” Patton called upstairs.

Thomas thundered down the steps, a much more subdued Virgil behind him with his Robin-printed hoodie trailing on the floor, gripped in his little first-grader fist.

Thomas bounced a little at the bottom of the steps, elated and clearly itching to get going.

“I can’t- can’t, um, get the hoodie over my head,” complained Virgil, holding it up to Patton.

“Well that’s cuz you’ve already got your purple hoodie on, baby,” said Patton, holding in a laugh, “You can’t wear both.”

Virgil gave him an affronted look, and Patton bit back a smile.

"Daddy, I can’t- I can’t take off _my_ hoodie,” he said, as incredulous as if Patton had asked him to walk on the ceiling, “It’s _important_. Mr. Kingsley said he, um, he enchanted it to keep away anxiety monsters.”

Patton’s heart gave a tremulous little flutter like a teenager with a crush – as opposed to a grown man with a crush, he thought a little dryly – at the mention of Roman, softening at how sweet he’d been to help Patton’s son with his anxiety where some people might have called Virgil too old for fears like that, or believing in magic for that matter.

“Important, huh?”

Virgil nodded emphatically.

“Well, how about this,” said Patton, “You take off the purple hoodie and put on your Robin costume, and I will keep ahold of the purple one. That way if you need it, we can switch _super_ fast, at the first sign of monsters.”

“… _Any_ monsters?” said Virgil.

“Any at all,” said Patton solemnly.

Virgil fidgeted nervously with the hem of his hoodie, before visibly steeling himself and nodding.

“Okay,” he said, “That- that sounds okay.”

“That’s really brave of you, Virgil,” said Thomas, ruffling Virgil’s hair with a grin that was all teasing preteen big brother. Virgil huffed irritably and shoved Thomas’s hand off, flattening his hair and blushing.

Patton helped Virgil change hoodies while Thomas got his shoes on - they were both dressed as Robin, but there were subtle differences to their costumes. Virgil had been hyper fixated on superheroes for months now, and had enthusiastically informed Patton that Thomas was Dick Grayson and Virgil himself was Damian Wayne.

Patton thought _he_ looked a little ridiculous in a batman costume with incredibly fake-looking padded abs, but Virgil had begged him to wear it, and Patton was pretty much helpless in the face of his baby’s big pleading puppy eyes.

Patton glanced at the clock and yelped, quickly herding both of them out the door before they were later than was really acceptable. Remus had been as excited as any nine-year-old could be for his birthday, and Patton was hardly going to deprive the boy of time with his best friends.

They were an endearingly rag-tag little group, the kids. Janus and Virgil trailed after Remus like little ducklings, and Thomas seemed to delight in all three of them, grabbing them under the arms with all the strength in his twelve-year-old arms and swinging them around or tickling them until they squealed.

Patton was thankful every day for his decision to take the job at the animal sanctuary, if only for the bright, grinning faces of his sons every time he brought them and they barreled into the child-care area to play with their friends.

Well- not _only_. But definitely the biggest reason.

Tied for the biggest reason.

_It is not “thinking about your pair of huge crushes” time,_ he told himself, ushering Thomas into the car and then lifting Virgil into his booster seat.

"Are you excited to see Remus and Janus at the birthday party?”

“Yeah,” said Virgil, seeming all at once incredibly sheepish.

Patton squinted at him a little.

“Something you want to tell me buddy?”

“No,” said Thomas and Virgil in exact unison, which set off just about every “babies with secrets” bell Patton had.

Virgil shyly covered his face with both hands like he was hiding, which was his biggest tell for secrets, and Patton sighed.

“You boys better not be getting up to anything too _shenanigan_ - _y_ or I will be very cross.”

“No cross!” said Thomas, looking over with big innocent eyes, “Promise!”

“ _Pinkie_ promise?” said Patton warningly.

Both boys solemnly held out their pinkies, and Patton sighed again, a little more fondly.

“Okay, I believe you,” he said, hooking both of them with his own, and both boys beamed.

Shutting Virgil in the back, Patton made his way around to the driver’s side and climbed in, pulling out of their drive and heading out of town.

Patton _would_ have thought Remus would want a birthday party somewhere other than the animal sanctuary, considering he and his father spent ninety percent of their time there – not that Patton was much better.

Sometimes the sanctuary felt more like home than their house did. Roman was in charge of the outreach program and the ambassador animals, Patton the head veterinarian and Logan the manager of all their docents, and between the three of them they’d transformed the struggling sanctuary into a veritable paradise.

Which had absolutely nothing to do with Patton missing out on every fifth word or so of staff meetings because he was busy mooning over either one of them, nope, no sirree, not at all.

If he was getting this bad at denial in his own head he had a big ol’ problem.

Patton glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing Thomas wearing a look like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, and then caught Virgil’s eye and bit back a smile when the little Robin hid behind his own hands again.

His boys were definitely _up to something,_ and Patton couldn’t quite tell if it was good or bad.

But they’d pinkie promised, and they took pinkie promises very seriously. So Patton thought – and hoped – it would turn out okay, and maybe even pretty good, for all three of them.

—

Logan opened the back door of his SUV only for Janus to try to dodge past him, already having freed himself from the seat belt and the booster seat. Logan caught him around the middle, swinging him slightly and smiling at Janus’s giggle, setting him back on his feet.

“Do we run in parking lots?” he said dryly.

“No,” said Janus, twirling his skirt a little and smiling guilelessly, “But I was jogging, not running,”

“Well then the rules are being updated,” said Logan, “We may not run _or_ jog in parking lots.”

Janus sighed long-sufferingly, and Logan couldn’t resist the urge to ruffle his hair.

“Noooo,” whined Janus, swerving away, “You’ll mess up my _curls_ ,”

Logan hadn’t let Janus wear the wig he’d wanted to – it was entirely too hot in mid-June for one – but he had agreed to carefully curl his hair in a more feminine style for his Supergirl costume.

Janus had been very emphatic that he wanted a _Supergirl_ costume, not Superboy, responding to Logan’s curiosity about the choice with an endearingly deadpan, “I’m not confined by gender norms, Papa!” which was perhaps one of the funnier sentences that could have come out of seven-year-old’s mouth.

Logan’s own Superman costume was much simpler, little more than a long-sleeved shirt with the appropriate logo, jeans, and a costume cape. Logan wouldn’t be wearing a costume at all if Janus hadn’t pleaded with him - even then he would have simply reused his costume from Purim, a baker, which was nothing more than an old apron Patton had given him and a plate of fake bread.

But Janus has been _insistent_ on the matching superhero costumes, and Logan had sighed and indulged him, even if three separate costume events in the past year were somewhat trying on his patients. Logan maintained that Janus had learned what Patton referred to as “puppy eyes” from Thomas and Virgil, and all of his children were remarkably adept at them by now.

_The_ children, he corrected himself sharply. The children. Not his – only Janus was his, and any silly fantasies Logan might have about he and Patton and Roman co-parenting their gaggle of troublemakers were just that - fantasies. And certainly fantasies which he did not need to be indulging, even in his own head.

“Are you ready to go in and not run while doing so?”

“Yes!” said Janus, reaching up and grabbing Logan’s hand, “C'mon, c'mon!”

Logan wasn’t entirely sure why Janus seemed so ardently excited for someone _else’s_ birthday party, but he wasn’t exactly surprised – the novelty of a costume party in June could explain it, or simply Janus’s usual delight in time spent with his friends.

They entered the building and found it milling with most of the same people who were usually there – the children of Logan’s coworkers, though there were a few unfamiliar pairs of child and parent who Logan presumed must be Remus’s school friends.

Janus tugged emphatically at Logan’s hand, clearly scanning the crowd for Remus, or possibly Virgil or Thomas. Logan let him lead, smiling indulgently, and Janus tugged him into the reptile room.

“Jay!”

Logan’s eyes followed Remus’s ecstatic voice, and he promptly almost choked on his spit.

Because Logan did not recognize Remus’s costume, something blue, but his father’s behind him was incredibly distinctive, and also Aquaman.

Logan gave Janus a halfhearted glare, once again remembering how _imperative_ Janus seemed to find it that they go as superheroes to the costume party, and Janus beamed up at him smugly before releasing Logan’s hand and trotting over to Remus.

“Supergirl and Superman!” said Remus, grinning and completely unsubtle, “Look, Dad, you and Mr. Lehrer match!”

“So I see,” sighed Roman, giving Logan an apologetic and incredibly charming smile that made Logan’s stomach do a rather impressive gymnastic routine which he proceeded to ignore.

“Have you seen the Sanders?” said Janus urgently.

“Not yet,” said Remus, eyes narrowed in concentration, “But-”

“Oh, jeezy creezy,”

Logan turned to look behind him, only to find an exasperated, smiling Patton behind him, dressed in what was unmistakably a batman costume, holding the hands of a pair of Robins, smiling in a self-satisfied way and shyly hiding behind his hip respectively.

“Oh, wow,” said Remus, once again entirely failing to hide his obvious responsibility for this nonsense, “Mr. Sanders matches too! What a coinkydink.”

“Remus,” said Roman.

“Hey, Mr. Lehrer, Mr. Kingsley,” said Thomas, looking absolutely delighted, “Cool costumes,”

“Virgil!” said Janus, grabbing the slightly smaller child by the hand, “Tell Dad what you told me about Superman bein’ Jewish like us,”

Virgil grinned up at him and held up his arms, and Logan was entirely unable to resist ducking down to pick him up and prop him on his hip.

“Did you pick out all of the costumes, Virgil?” he said gently.

Flustered, Virgil covered his eyes with his hands and nodded.

“I picked being Supergirl instead of Superboy, though,” said Janus.

“Janus says he’s, um, too good for gender,” said Virgil solemnly, which caused Remus to nod sagely and both Roman and Patton to choke on a laugh.

“I _am_ ,” said Janus, sniffing haughtily.

"Of course you are, honey,” cooed Patton, causing Janus to preen and Logan’s heart to _throb_.

“So Superman is Jewish?” said Logan.

Virgil nodded enthusiastically, before sheepishly shaking his head.

“Uh, sorta,” he said, “But- but he _should_ be, definitely.”

“And why is that?”

Virgil began a very passionate and entirely out of his age range rant about the history and symbolism of Superman, which was hopelessly endearing because Virgil was six and had to articulate the words around a nervous stutter and an admittedly very cute tendency to over-pronounce the letter “T.”

As he spoke, Logan gradually led all of them over to the bench along the viewing window, a spot all the children could spend hours in on some days, looking for birds and squirrels and turtles and any other animals they could spot with their little eyes.

“See!” said Janus, “So that’s why you’re Superman and I’m Supergirl.”

“Can I ask why I’m Batman?” laughed Patton.

“Because he- he has the _most_ kids of any dad in comics ever,” said Virgil immediately.

“And us?” asked Roman.

“Because the ocean is freakin’ _dope!_ ” exclaimed Remus.

“Remus,” said Roman, and Logan could see the way he bit his cheek to keep from laughing, “Don’t say ‘freaking.’”

“Flippin dope?”

“Only barely better,”

“So yeah!” said Thomas, “Virgil worked very hard on picking out the costumes, didn’t you Virgil?”

Virgil nodded sheepishly.

Remus perked up like it was some kind of signal.

“Yeah, he’s great! Thank you, Virgil,”

Thomas echoed him, and so did Janus before grinning up at Logan.

Logan took a moment to non-seriously lament that he had raised such a meddling little shit.

“Thank you for putting so much effort into picking our costumes, Virgil.”

“Yeah,” said Roman, some unidentifiable note in his voice.

“Great picks, kiddo,” said Patton, ruffling Virgil’s hair.

All the children absolutely beamed, and Logan got the feeling that whatever this was, it was not actually about superheroes at all.

—

Roman had to admit, events like this were a lot easier to organize when he had the help of the other outreach staff and the docents - all on his own it was a much more complicated beast.

But Remus had said he wanted his birthday party to be here, “the best place in the world,” and really, Roman couldn’t argue with that.

Logan and Patton were godsends, unrivaled blessings, immediately picking up on Roman’s exhaustion and offering to take on some of the party’s logistics – Patton took over the upkeep of the kitchen, Logan the organizing of the present table and Roman himself organized the games. He’d have felt like he was taking advantage, getting the best end of the deal, if Logan and Patton hadn’t insisted.

And wasn’t that another nail in Roman’s hopelessly pining coffin – a pair of best friends who happily shared any burden with him, who doted on his favorite little gremlin as much as he did, who both came with their own precious little ones for Roman to regale with stories until their eyes were filled with stars.

It would have been enough to make a lesser man crumble, but here Roman was, a grown man just as steadfast as ever in the two most besotted crushes he’d ever had.

Hoo-ray.

Roman regretted caving to Remus’s insistence on a pinata, but no one was actually injured, so he was counting it a victory. The children broke off into smaller groups for a few minutes, chattering while they waited for the cake to be brought out.

At some point Roman found himself simply too overwhelmed, and moved into the emptier insect room to catch his breath. He checked the time on his watch, startling when the door opened and a curious Remus poked his head in and then sighed dramatically.

“What are you _doing_ you _goof?_ ”

“Oh, _I’m_ a goof?” said Roman, amused, “And what have I done that’s so goofy?”

Remus sighed again, coming into the room and letting the door swing shut. He grabbed Roman by the hand and dragged him back toward the party.

“You’re _supposed_ to be smooching already, but you keep walking away from Mr. Sanders and Mr. Lehrer-”

“Wait, _what?_ ” blurted Roman, stopping cold. Remus turned and gave him a bewildered look.

“What did you say?” said Roman, feeling slightly panicked.

Remus tilted his head quizzically.

“You keep walking away from-”

“No, about- I mean-”

“What, smooching?” said Remus incredulously, “I’m _nine_ , Dad, I know about kissing.”

Roman let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

“Remus, do you- are you trying to get me to kiss Mr. Sanders and Mr. Lehrer?”

Remus looked at Roman like he genuinely thought he’d lost his mind.

“Yeah, _duh_ ,” said Remus, “It’s why we put you in matching costumes like in a romcom.”

Kneeling, Roman tried not to laugh again at the thoroughly done expression on Remus’s face.

“Buddy,” he said gently, “Why- why on earth are you trying to get me to kiss Patton and Logan?”

Huffing, Remus crossed his arms with a scowl.

“Because you’re all always _mooning_ over each other and staring all sappy and _sighing_ and me and Jay and Virge and Tommy just want you to kiss already so we can have extra dads and all be brothers.”

“Excuse me, I do not _moon_ or sigh,” laughed Roman.

“Liar!” shot back Remus, “Liar, liar pants _so_ on fire that everything else is gonna get fire on it and the whole building and forest burn down.”

“Oh, the whole forest?”

“The _whole_ forest,” agreed Remus, “You sigh _so_ much, Dad, you really gotta kiss them before I just totally lose my mind watching you.”

“So I am a goofy liar who moons and sighs? Your old dad is feeling the love, buddy,” said Roman, ruffling his hands through Remus’s hair.

“Ugh, getoffa’ me,” laughed Remus, pushing him away.

Remus put on a little solemn expression that mostly just looked adorable on a nine-year-old.

"But seriously,” he said, as if Roman didn’t have to wrestle him to get him to be serious on a normal day, “You’re all- you’re all like, _grossly_ in love with each other and we totally had to do something or you weren’t gonna do anything until you were like a _hundred_ and wrinkly and like, dying.”

Roman couldn’t help but snort, before biting his lip.

“… You think so?” he said gently.

Nodding, Remus squeezed his hands.

“Oh, for sure,” said Remus, “We _all_ thought so and so did Thomas and _he’s_ had a boyfriend so he definitely knows for sure.”

“Thomas had a _what now?_ ” exclaimed Roman.

“Uh… oops,” said Remus, “I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that.”

“Somehow I think you’re right,” said Roman dryly. He spent a moment considering.

“Okay, buddy,” he said, “Though you must know that if this totally blows up in your old Dad’s face I’m going to blame it solely on you and your little gang of ragamuffins.”

Remus looked thoughtful.

“Yeah, okay,” he said, shrugging, “Now like, go be gross grown-ups and kiss or whatever.”

“There’s a few steps before that but I appreciate your faith in me.”

Seemingly too impatient to respond, Remus dragged Roman out of the insect room by the fingers and back into the main lobby. Heart pounding, Roman looked through the sea of faces until he found Patton, a bright spot of smiles by the cake table, and Logan not far at the present table next to it.

“Go, go, go!” said Remus, shoving at the small of Roman’s back.

“I’m _going_ you little gremlin, calm down,” laughed Roman, “Why don’t you go find your little cohorts, hmm?”

Huffing, Remus darted off into the crowd after the other boys,

Steeling himself, Roman crossed the room and gently touched Patton on the shoulder.

Patton gave him an attentive look, and Roman felt his face melt into a smile.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he said quietly.

Blinking, Patton nodded.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Is something going on?”

“Uh… kinda,” said Roman, wincing, “And, um- we need Logan, too,”

Nodding along, Patton followed him as Roman went and gave Logan the same feeble explanation, and Logan agreed just as easily. Roman tried to take that as a good sign.

This was ridiculous. Roman couldn’t believe he was about to take romantic tips from three elementary schoolers and a twelve-year-old.

Roman led them both into the kitchen, ignoring the thud of his pulse in his ears.

“Could you, uh- shut the door?”

Logan looked outright alarmed now, but he did it. Both of them turned to look at him with worried frowns on their faces.

“Okay,” he said, “Okay.”

“Roman, is something wrong?” said Logan.

“Is it the kids?” Patton asked.

“No,” said Roman, “Or, well- yes, kinda, nothing bad! Just…”

They both watched him, waiting – Roman took a steadying breath and let it out through pursed lips.

“So,” he said, the lightness in his voice at odds with the way his heart felt lodged in his throat, “You may or may not have noticed, but I am actually- well, hopelessly in love with the two of you.”

Patton squeaked, and Logan made a strangled, inarticulate noise.

“And there is nothing you have to do about that!” continued Roman, raising his hands non-threateningly, “But- you see, I sort of just got, uh, roasted by my nine-year-old, for quite obviously pining over you, and I figure I ought to teach him some kind of lesson about honesty and not bottling up your feelings, so- here we are.”

“Oh my goodness gracious, _really?_ ” said Patton, his voice wet.

Nodding, Roman cleared his throat.

“Reall-”

But he did not get a chance to finish, because Patton promptly launched himself across the space between them, threw his arms around Roman’s neck, and kissed him square on the mouth.

Roman caught him and returned the kiss practically before he knew it was happening, wrapping his arms tight around Patton’s waist and nearly lifting him off his feet. There was a choked noise across from them, and they abruptly broke apart, both of them looking at Logan with flushed, embarrassed expressions.

“Yes, well,” said Logan, flushed crimson and nervously adjusting his glasses on his face, “I suppose- now would be an appropriate time to confirm that I, um- also reciprocate your romantic attraction.”

“… And-” said Patton nervously, half-breaking out of Roman’s grip to take a step towards Logan, “Maybe… us too?”

Logan’s face softened.

“No ‘maybe,’” he said quietly, “Yes. Both of you, I- I never even thought to say anything, I was so sure there was no chance-”

Squealing, Patton lunged and snatched up Logan’s hand, dragging him toward them and leaning in to press a smattering of kisses all over his cheek.

“Oh, oh, oh, I’m so _glad-”_ he exclaimed tearfully.

Patton’s enthusiasm was abruptly cut off by a chorus of cheers from the other side of the door.

“Oh, you little _monsters-_ ” laughed Roman.

The children burst into the room, jumping enthusiastically and cheering and grabbing at all of them insistently.

“Are they my extra dads now?” demanded a grinning Remus.

“Thomas and Virgil and Remus are my brothers now, right?” said Janus, looking up at Logan with faux-innocent eyes.

“Told you it would work,” Thomas ducked down to mutter to Virgil, who giggled and rocked happily and tried unsuccessfully to wrap his arms around all three of their legs.

Smirking, Roman reached out to cup Logan’s chin and tilt his head up for a kiss, only to be greeted by a chorus of gleefully disgusted children.

And already, Roman could tell this was the start of something _wonderful._

**Author's Note:**

> you can also find me over on tumblr (@tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors) - im going on hiatus for a while soon but i will be back!


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